2 Lari 1995, Georgia

President of National Bank of Georgia: Nodar Javakhishvili, Minister of Finance: David Iakobidze

Serie:

1995 Issue

Specimen of:

1995

Material:

Cotton fiber

Size (mm):

115 х 61

Printer:

Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire SA, Colombes

* All pictures marked are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.

** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.

Description

Watermark:

The Emblems of the Bank of Georgia.

Avers:

The engraving on banknote is made after this photo of Zacharia Paliashvili.

Zacharia Petres dze Paliashvili (Georgian: ზაქარია ფალიაშვილი, Zakaria Paliaşvili), also known as Zachary Petrovich Paliashvili (Russian: Захарий Петрович Палиашви́ли, Zacharij Petrovič Paliašvili; 1871 - 1933), was a Georgian composer. Regarded as one of the founders of the Georgian classical music, his work is known for its eclectic fusion of folk songs and stories with 19th-century Romantic classical themes. He was the founder of the Georgian Philharmonic Society and later, the head of the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. The Georgian National Opera and Ballet Theater of Tbilisi was named in his honor in 1937. Notably, Paliashvili's music serves as the basis of the National Anthem of Georgia.

Although Paliashvili has composed works for symphony orchestra (e.g., Georgian Suite on Folk Themes), he is probably best known for his vocal music, which includes operas Abesalom da Eteri (based on a folk tale "Eteriani"), Daisi (Twilight), and Latavra.

In the center - notes of the overture from the opera Paliashvili "Abessalom and Eteri" (Music of the modern anthem of Georgia is taken from two operas by Zacharia Paliashvili - "Daisi" ("Twilight") and "Abesalom and Eteri".)

Very interesting is the history of the Georgian opera "Abesalom and Eteri", which became a visiting card of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater - it is this performance that opens the renovated theater.

This opera is not just the pride of Georgian opera. A rather tragicomic story is connected with it.

To conduct the premiere should be Emmanuel Stolerman. But the conductor had a very emotional spouse who, as a result of another family quarrel, tore up the only Georgian score of "Abesalom and Eteri". In anger, Stolerman shot his wife and went to court.

The court took into account, as an extenuating circumstance, the famous for the whole city complex character of the deceased spouse and dismissed the conductor with the surprising formulation "to award the death penalty, taking into account the fact that this period includes those 18 years that the defendant lived with the murdered wife." But Zariy Paliashvili stood up for the conductor's panel during the premiere, and he had to re-write the score almost all over again. And the first performers of the main parties in the aria were Boris Zalipsky and Olga Bakhutashvili-Shulgina.

And for many years "Abesalom and Eteri" traditionally begins each season at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater.

Top left is an emblem of National Bank of Georgia.

The main motive of emblem is Borjgali.

Borjgali (Georgian: ბორჯღალი; also Borjgala or Borjgalo) is a Georgian symbol of the Sun with seven rotating wings over the Christian Tree of Life and is related to the Mesopotamian symbols of eternity. It is usually depicted within the circle that symbolizes the Universe. The roots of the Tree go into the "past" and its palm-like branches are for the "future". The Tree itself symbolizes the continuity between past, present and the future. The Borjgali is usually placed above the tree and symbolizes the Sun, eternal movement and life.

The term Borjgali is believed to derive from Megrelian word ბარჩხალი ("barchkhali"), which literally means "strong shining". Some other scholars believe that it has different origins. In old Megrelian borj means "time" and gal means "pass" or "flow". So the whole phrase would mean "the flow of time".

Denomination is in lower right corner.

Revers:

The Georgian Opera and Ballet Theater, in Tiflis (Tbilisi), view of 1878.

The Georgian National Opera and Ballet Theater of Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისის ოპერისა და ბალეტის სახელმწიფო აკადემიური თეატრი), formerly known as the Tiflis Imperial Theater, is an opera house situated on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia. Founded in 1851, Tbilisi Opera is the main opera house of Georgia and one of the oldest such establishments in eastern Europe.

Since 1896, the theater has resided in an exotic neo-Moorish edifice originally constructed by Victor Johann Gottlieb Schröter, a prominent architect of Baltic German origin. Although definitively Oriental in its decorations and style, the building's layout, foyers and the main hall are that of a typical European opera house. Since its foundation, the theater has been damaged by several fires and underwent major rehabilitation works under Soviet and Georgian leadership; the most recent restoration effort concluded in January 2016, having taken six years and costing approximately 40 million U.S. dollars, donated by a Georgian business foundation.

The opera house is one of the centers of cultural life in Tbilisi and was once home to Zacharia Paliashvili, the Georgian national composer whose name the institution has carried since 1937. The Opera and Ballet Theater also houses the State Ballet of Georgia under the leadership of internationally renowned Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili. In recent years it has hosted opera stars such as Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras, while also serving as a traditional venue for national celebrations and presidential inaugurations.

The foundation of the Tiflis Imperial Opera was closely intertwined with the turbulent political processes in Georgia following the country's annexation by the Russian Empire in 1801. In the first half of the 19th century, Georgia remained a restless and poorly integrated part of the empire. Unhappy with Russian policies, in 1832 Georgian aristocracy hatched a plot against the local Russian authorities, which was discovered and resulted in multiple arrests and repressions in the subsequent years. Anxious to reconcile the Georgian opinion in view of these lingering difficulties, the new Viceroy of the Caucasus, Count Mikhail Vorontsov, implemented a number of cultural initiatives, one of which was the foundation of the opera. The declared purpose of its establishment was to benefit the "public well-being" but it also served an important political goal of fully integrating the local Georgian aristocracy into the Imperial social life, thereby distracting them from any further anti-Russian conspiracies.

To satisfy Georgians, Vorontsov went on to patronize Georgian-language theater performances and did everything Saint Petersburg would permit to win over locals. These type of efforts were particularly relevant in light of the ongoing Shamil's rebellion in the North Caucasus, which prompted some Russians to see Georgian aristocrats as the only bulwark protecting Russia's southern imperial borders. Vorontsov's conciliatory efforts were not without controversy, as not all Russians were enthusiastic about non-Russian contributions to the city's cultural development; some objected to Georgian-language productions and had them moved to different days, rather than precede regular opera performances as it was done up to that point.

At Vorontsov's initiative, the original theater site was chosen on Rustaveli Avenue in Erivan Square, an area the administration correctly envisioned would be the center of the expanding city. The land was given free of charge from the governor of the Tiflis Governorate, provided the theater would belong to the city.

The foundations of The Tiflis Imperial Theater were laid down on 15 April 1847. Italian architect Giovanni Scudieri, who had come to Tiflis from Odessa, was hired to oversee the project. The construction was completed in 1851.The interior of the theater was decorated by a Parisian designer, using colored velvet, gold and silver details, and expensive silks. A massive chandelier weighing 1,218 kilograms (2,685 lb.), unassembled in 12 large boxes, was shipped by a steamer from Marseille to Kulevi on the Black Sea coast. Buffalo pulled the chandelier more than 300 kilometers (190 mi.) to Tiflis. Russian painter Grigory Gagarin created the artwork for the theater. Vorontsov appointed writer Vladimir Sollogub as the theater's first director.